The UK Card Association has recently reported that 21% of card payments in August 2016 were made using contactless card terminals up from 7.9% in August 2015.

Contactless payments has taken off in a huge way saving retailers and consumers time at the checkout and providing a fast and simple way to pay for goods.

Surge in the use of contactless payments in largely due to the High Street Banks support in providing customers with contactless cards. In addition retailers are embracing the new technology and wanting to offer customers the faster, more convenient way to pay.

Visa has also made it mandatory for all retailers of card terminals to only deploy contactless card machines which came into force in January which again has made a huge impact on the availability of contactless card payments.

Many consumers and retailers see contactless card payments as something reasonably new however Chip & PIN Solutions saw the Contactless revolution coming back in November 2014 where they reported a jump of 176% in contactless card terminal sales for the period January – September 2014 compared with the previous year.

Transport for London have also been great ambassadors for contactless payments having adopted it in September 2014 across the London transport network. In fact, it was so successful when launched, that over 12 million contactless transaction were made in the following 2 months.

With such widespread adoption of contactless card payments, confidence in the technology is at an all-time high with both consumers, retailers and banks who have recently increased the contactless limit from £20 to £30.

With Apple Pay and Android Pay also being compatible with contactless card machines and alternative contactless technology becoming more readily available such as wearable contactless rings and bracelets, contactless payments has quickly become the preferred choice for payments.